Procopio Cutò: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Ice Cream dessert 02.jpg|thumb|right|150 px|Procopio was a pioneer in Italian [[gelato]] at Café Procope.]] |
[[File:Ice Cream dessert 02.jpg|thumb|right|150 px|Procopio was a pioneer in Italian [[gelato]] at Café Procope.]] |
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Procopio worked first as a fisherman like his father |
Procopio worked first as a fisherman like his father Onofrio. His grandfather Francesco, becoming part of his name, was also a fisherman. It turned out that his grandfather built [[gelato]] machines part time, when he was not fishing. Francesco eventually left his invention to Procopio as an inheritance. Procopio tinkered with his grandfather's gelato machine making various improvements. Procopio eventually felt that he had developed a machine that would produce gelato on a large scale and decided to promote the product.<ref name ="portinari"/> |
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Procopio took up the skills to become a cook, possibly in [[Florence]] or [[Palermo]].<ref name ="coffee94/> He [[apprentice]]d under the leadership of [[Armenian]] immigrants Pascal and Maliban.<ref name ="fitch43"> Fitch, p. 43 </ref> Procopio eventually moved to Paris in 1685 and obtained French citizenship.<ref name ="coffee94> Ukers, p. 94</ref> Then in 1686 he opened up a [[kiosk]] in the heart of Paris and called it "Le Procope", his nickname in French.<ref name ="portinari"/> At first he was just a lemonade vender (''limonadier'').<ref name ="coffee94/> He had a royal license to sell spices, ices, and barley water. He soon added coffee to his refreshments' list and the kiosk became a [[coffee house]] cafe.<ref name ="coffee94/> It was the first cafe in Paris and still exists today, over 300 years later.<ref> Portinari, ''It was the first café in Paris and is still open and active today.''</ref> |
Procopio took up the skills to become a cook, possibly in [[Florence]] or [[Palermo]].<ref name ="coffee94/> He [[apprentice]]d under the leadership of [[Armenian]] immigrants Pascal and Maliban.<ref name ="fitch43"> Fitch, p. 43 </ref> Procopio eventually moved to Paris in 1685 and obtained French citizenship.<ref name ="coffee94> Ukers, p. 94</ref> Then in 1686 he opened up a [[kiosk]] in the heart of Paris and called it "Le Procope", his nickname in French.<ref name ="portinari"/> At first he was just a lemonade vender (''limonadier'').<ref name ="coffee94/> He had a royal license to sell spices, ices, and barley water. He soon added coffee to his refreshments' list and the kiosk became a [[coffee house]] cafe.<ref name ="coffee94/> It was the first cafe in Paris and still exists today, over 300 years later.<ref> Portinari, ''It was the first café in Paris and is still open and active today.''</ref> |
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== Family == |
== Family == |
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Procopio married Marguerite Crouin around 1675. Together they had eight children. He married a second time as an elderly man and fathered five more children. He was married a third time.<ref |
Procopio married Marguerite Crouin around 1675 in the church of Saint Sulpice Crouin. The marriage records shows the witnesses as his parents, Onofrio and Semarqua Sunday. Together they had eight children. He married a second time in 1696 as an elderly man and fathered five more children with Anne Françoise Garnier. He was married a third time in 1717 Julie Parmentier, had another son.<ref> Marcello Messina, "The café Le Procope" in Scirocco, Year 3, Nov. / Dec. 2003, pp. 19-21</ref> |
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== Notes == |
== Notes == |
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Revision as of 23:27, 18 May 2009
Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 9th, 1651 Palermo or Aci Trezza, France |
| Died | February 10, 1727 Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | French entrepreneur |
Procopio Cutò, or Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli was the Sicilian chef who had learned the culinary business as his career trade,[1] and, billing himself as a modern Procopius founded in 1686 what has become the oldest extant cafe in Paris, Cafe Procope. It became the first literary coffeehouse. The cafe-restaurant for over 200 years attracted notables in the world of arts, politics and literature.[2]
Biography
Procopio was born near Mount Etna in Sicily. He received his name of dei Coltelli from the French, who misunderstood his Sicilian family name of Cutò, which is homonymous with couteaux, " knives" in French. Hence, translating back into Italian gives Procopio dei Coltelli the other name he is known by.[1]
Growing up so close to the mountain he played in the snow when he was a boy, typical of children worldwide that are in the northern or mountainous regions where there is snowfall. At that time period the snow was mixed with fruit juices and honey to make a type of sorbet. This type of "ice cream" was eaten by both rich aristocrats and by peasants.[1] This is where Procopio got the idea to develop out gelato. The history of gelato shows Procopio as a most influential person to promote this new food. [3] He was one of the first to sell this product to the public.[3]
Procopio worked first as a fisherman like his father Onofrio. His grandfather Francesco, becoming part of his name, was also a fisherman. It turned out that his grandfather built gelato machines part time, when he was not fishing. Francesco eventually left his invention to Procopio as an inheritance. Procopio tinkered with his grandfather's gelato machine making various improvements. Procopio eventually felt that he had developed a machine that would produce gelato on a large scale and decided to promote the product.[1]
Procopio took up the skills to become a cook, possibly in Florence or Palermo.[4] He apprenticed under the leadership of Armenian immigrants Pascal and Maliban.[5] Procopio eventually moved to Paris in 1685 and obtained French citizenship.[4] Then in 1686 he opened up a kiosk in the heart of Paris and called it "Le Procope", his nickname in French.[1] At first he was just a lemonade vender (limonadier).[4] He had a royal license to sell spices, ices, and barley water. He soon added coffee to his refreshments' list and the kiosk became a coffee house cafe.[4] It was the first cafe in Paris and still exists today, over 300 years later.[6]
Procopio's café became a very popular cultural and political gathering place. Certain notable people that frequented the cafe throughout history have been Voltaire, Maximilien Robespierre, Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, Honoré de Balzac Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, François-Marie Arouet, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Georges Danton, Jean-Paul Marat, Honoré de Balzac and Denis Diderot .[1] Even Benjamin Franklin visited Procopio's cafe.[4]
Family
Procopio married Marguerite Crouin around 1675 in the church of Saint Sulpice Crouin. The marriage records shows the witnesses as his parents, Onofrio and Semarqua Sunday. Together they had eight children. He married a second time in 1696 as an elderly man and fathered five more children with Anne Françoise Garnier. He was married a third time in 1717 Julie Parmentier, had another son.[7]
Notes
Sources
- Fitch, Noël Riley et al, The Grand Literary Cafes of Europe, New Holland Publishers, 2006, ISBN 1-8453711-4-3
- Portinari, Folco, Voglia di gelato, Milano, Idea Libri, 1987, ISBN 8-8708211-3-7.
- Ukers, William H., All About Coffee - The Project Gutenberg EBook